Respect the Call!

Referee abuse is a widespread issue in sports, affecting officials at all levels, from youth leagues to international tournaments. 

Swiss soccer referee Urs Meier disallowed a goal for England against Portugal in the 2004 quarter-final, he received over 16,000 angry emails, required police protection, and was advised to go into hiding.

Referee abuse can take many forms, including verbal insults, physical intimidation, and even violence, often coming from players, coaches, or spectators. This toxic behavior contributes to referee shortages, mental health struggles, and a decline in officiating quality due to the lack of development opportunities that comes with experience over the years.

In youth sports, parents and coaches yelling at referees set a poor example for young athletes and create a hostile game environment. 

To address this issue, U.S. Soccer is rolling out a new referee abuse prevention policy, and my friend, Christine, a soccer referee in Washington State, has been appointed as a Referee Abuse Prevention Policy Administrator to help enforce it. 

Christine has been a dedicated soccer referee for 18 years, progressing through various leadership and mentorship roles. She achieved Regional Referee status while becoming an instructor, then a State Instructor,  referee mentor, and now a Referee Coach. Recognized for her excellence, she was named High School Official of the Year in 2009 and Adult Referee of the Year for Washington State in 2019. In addition to officiating, she has participated in disciplinary hearings when referees make mistakes and has spent the past three years providing emotional coaching support to referees who have faced abuse. Her commitment to referee development and well-being has led to her recent appointment to the non-voting member of the WAState Referee Committee Board at the request of the WA State Referee Administrator.

Here we are in 2017, cheering on the Seattle Sounders while being very respectful of the refs!

This new initiative “Respect the Call” reflects no-tolerance for abuse and the penalties are well structured and much tougher than before, ranging from 2- game suspension to 10-game suspension and or/ time suspension from 1-month to 12-month and even life-time ban. The incentive also is to show more sportsmanship, civility and mutual respect for one another.

Addressing referee abuse is essential to maintaining fair play, ensuring a positive sports culture, and preventing passionate competition from turning into outright hostility.

Players, spectators, coaches, some of them seem to think they have a right to "challenge" if not "object" a ref's call, and as they're getting emotional, they are quick to yell at them and call them names or even worse.

As a Hockey Mom and fan this topic is not new to me, and to be honest, I may have yelled stuff like "how is this not a penalty?" in the heat of the moment. But I'm usually the one who reminds my fellow hockey parents to shut up, mainly because they're embarrassing themselves - and their kids ;-)

In hockey I generally feel people have more respect for the opponent and the officials. I actually admire how the profession players limit themselves in interviews to commenting critically on their own game. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say that an opposing player is a scumbag or that the referee must have forgotten his blind man's stick at home.  

I'm going to make an assertion and say that attacking referees is in the same category as the behavior that more and more parents are displaying towards teachers.

Overwhelmed parents have less and less ability to reflect on themselves, let alone discipline their children, and therefore need a scapegoat to blame. Surely the bad grade cannot be due to the child being lazy, but must be because the grading scale is too strict, or the teacher has something against the child personally. 

When Colin was younger, I heard left and right from parents who were constantly contacting the coach and the youth sports manager when they felt their child should have been called up for the game, or their child wasn't getting enough ice time, and their child should be allowed to play in the higher category anyway.

I could hardly believe it. Can't you trust the specialists to make the right decisions for the good of the team? What makes these parents think they can use their supposed influence to give their child an advantage? 

I was and still am of the opinion that you should get ahead based on your performance and appearance, not because someone “lobbies” in your favor. 

This is about sports! So behave in a sporting manner and be a good role model for your young athletes!

Colin served as team captain during this season. I couldn't be prouder. He was elected to this role because the other players and his coaches value his leadership, attitude and demeanor. 

Most of the time this just means high-fiving the officials and the opposing captain and staff members before the game. From time to time, however, situations arise in which penalties are called that require clarification, and then it is important to remain calm, listen and maintain decorum. 

At the end of the day, sports should be about teamwork, perseverance, and respect, not berating referees when a call doesn’t go our way. If we want young athletes to develop good sportsmanship, we need to lead by example, whether in the stands or on the sidelines.

Have you ever witnessed or experienced referee abuse in sports? How do you think we can encourage a culture of respect in youth and professional sports alike?